


His Truth

by SweetTeaSymphony



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-29 02:06:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18298079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetTeaSymphony/pseuds/SweetTeaSymphony
Summary: Nick knew he was falling in love with Eleanor Bishop.  That was his truth.





	His Truth

**Author's Note:**

> First time posting a story so I kept it short and sweet. Feedback is always welcome. I hope you enjoy it!

It’s easy to lose yourself in undercover work. Easy to forget who you really are and easy to let the illusion become the reality. The only trick to keeping yourself sane, and safe, is to be ruthlessly honest with yourself about the truth…and then compartmentalize the shit out of it. So yeah, Nick knew he was falling in love with Eleanor Bishop. That was his truth. The cover was what he lived: partners, teammates, friends.

Clearly, he was out of practice, though, because his truth kept slipping through. His truth was the reason he kept finding ways to suggest sequel missions for Luis and Charlie. His truth was why he catalogued everything about her, from her favorite snacks to the way she styled her hair. His truth had him make stupid decisions, like canceling her date or filling a jar with water that reminded him of one of the scariest moments of his life.

His truth was beating the shit out of him too. He would never regret putting himself between her and danger, but he had to admit that the scrapes and bruises were starting to add up. Not to mention the punch to the gut every time he saw or thought about her with another man. The panic attacks when she was in trouble and he was powerless to help. And, oh God, the pain in his heart, sharp and breathless, as he watched her with little Cody in her arms, rocking him to sleep in front of Gibbs’s fire.

Nick was screwed and it was all because, for once in his life, his cover couldn’t hide his truth. 16 different names. 16 different personalities, each one sleazier and more rotten than the last. 16 missions that forced him to roll around in the muck and the corruption and the cruelty and struggle to hold on to the one little kernel of truth that made him the good guy. The truth that made him Nick.

None of those covers had ever felt as suffocating as pretending he wasn’t absolutely, completely, madly, deeply in love with Eleanor Bishop.

And of the 16 different times he got to leave the cover behind, criminals in handcuffs behind him, none of them ever felt as good as the first time Ellie kissed him, her hands clenched in his hair and his real name on her lips. His truth, finally ready to be lived.

“I love you, Nick Torres.” “I love you too, Ellie Bishop.”


End file.
